Spencer Bohren

Spencer Bohren’s music resonates with the ambience of the rivers, roads, and bayous of the American South. He has a marvelous gift for sharing his great love for America’s wealth of traditional folk, blues, gospel, and country music with audiences of all ages.

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Spencer Bohren

Spencer Bohren’s music resonates with the ambience of the rivers, roads, and bayous of the American South. He has a marvelous gift for sharing his great love for America’s wealth of traditional folk, blues, gospel, and country music with audiences of all ages.

musician artist educator storyteller

musician artist educator storyteller

Spencer Bohren: Storyteller

In 2011 Storytelling came to Spencer Bohren with two invitations. One was to the Cave Run Storytelling Festival in Morehead, Kentucky, and the second was to the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Not that storytelling was new to him. Spencer has long been known for the stories he tells at concerts as background to his songs and the historical instruments he plays.

Spencer Bohren: Guitarist

Spencer presents an introduction to America’s treasure trove of blues, country, folk, and gospel music, using simple methods and tricks designed to get maximum music from your guitar with minimal effort and technique. Geared toward vocal accompaniment, this workshop also includes casual anecdotes, historical footnotes, and musical philosophy, plus instruction and songs in all the relevant keys.

Spencer Bohren: Performer

Spencer Bohren’s music resonates with the ambience of the rivers, roads, and bayous of the American South. He has a marvelous gift for sharing his great love for America’s wealth of traditional folk, blues, gospel, and country music with audiences of all ages.

Spencer Bohren Discography

Spencer has recorded 18 albums of music rooted in the American folk tradition and wrapped in the deep atmosphere of the South. Shown is Makin’ it Home to You, his 2018 release.

Spencer Bohren Videos

Check out our collection of videos of Spencer Bohren featuring live performances, music videos, interviews and more.

Spencer Bohren: Educator

Spencer Bohren’s documentary concert, Down the Dirt Road Blues, follows the journey of a single song as it travels through America’s history and culture. From its pre-slavery African beginning, the song slowly transforms into Mississippi blues, Memphis dance music, a banjo tune from Appalachia, Hank Williams’ early country music, Muddy Waters’ electric Chicago blues, and finally into folk music and rock...

Official Ghost Train video

This official music video for Ghost Train was shot in Solingen, Germany at Valve Studios by Alchemy Productions. You can visit them on Facebook...

Spencer Bohren Discography

Spencer has recorded 18 albums of music rooted in the American folk tradition and wrapped in the deep atmosphere of the South. Shown is Makin’ it Home to You, his 2018 release.

Spencer Bohren’s music resonates with the ambience of the rivers, roads, and bayous of the American South. He has a marvelous gift for sharing his great love for America’s wealth of traditional folk, blues, gospel and country music with audiences of all ages. His ability to animate the musicians and singers from the past with both respectful readings of their music and spellbinding stories is legendary. Spencer’s laid-back stage presence and comfortable delivery make each concert feel like a pleasant visit with an old friend.

But that’s not all . . .

Woven through the fabric of a Spencer Bohren performance are his stunning original pieces, teeming with echoes of the traditional music he loves, yet written from a modern viewpoint. From gently opinionated topical songs to energetic highway tunes to disarmingly beautiful ballads, Spencer presents a wide range of music, punctuated by superlative guitar playing and using an ever-changing assortment of vintage guitars, lapsteels and banjos. The atmosphere of his New Orleans home subtly informs each performance. What’s more, the stories that preface the songs are often as well received as the songs themselves.

Spencer Bohren is also a big hit in the academic community. His documentary performance, Down the Dirt Road Blues, mesmerizes students all over the world, and his American Roots Guitar workshops are popular with musicians of all ages and backgrounds. Exhibitions and workshops featuring Spencer’s visual artwork, provocative assemblages he calls Reliquaries, are available in conjunction with or separate from his musical offerings.

From festival stages in America to concert halls all over Europe, listeners continue to be charmed by the openness and honesty of Spencer’s music and his gracious personality. In a world filled with synthesized pop music, Spencer Bohren defines artistic integrity.